Shoe-heel.



W. H. WEBB.

SHOEVHEEL. l APPLICATION FILED MAR.29. |911.

Patented May 21,1918.

Mmmm( WITN i; FMF.

WALTER H. WEBB, OF DENVER, COLORADO.

SHOE-HEEL.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented May 21, 1918.

Application filed March 29, 1917. Serial No. 158,441.

To all whom t may concern:

Be it known that I, WALTER H. WEBB, a

citizen of the United States, residing at Denver, in the countyv of Denver and State of Colorado, have invented certain new and useful lmprovements in Shoe-Heels, of which the following is a specification.

My invention relates toimprovements in shoe-heels and its object resides in providing a heel of a boot, shoe, or other footwear', with a wearingor tread-part which may be adjusted or replaced when worn.

By the use of my invention a partially worn heel `may be readily restored to its original condition without the practical knowledge required torepair shoes of ordinary construction.

I attain the above stated object by providing the heel with one or more sockets or cavities adapted to receive and hold a correspondingly shaped plug or wearing piece made of rubber-or other wear-resisting material.

The socket is preferably made in a part of the heel which is most subject to wear and the plug when worn may be raised by placing a filling in the bottom of its socket or it may be replaced by another similar plug without the use of tools other than a knife or like instrument to pry the worn piece out of the socket in which it is fitted.

An embodiment of my invention has been illustrated in the accompanying drawings in the various views of which like parts are similarly designated and in-.which- Figure 1 is a bottom view of the heelportion of a shoe,

Fig. 2, a section along the line 2-2, Fig. 1,

Fig. 3, a side elevation of the portion of the shoe shown in lFig. 1, part of the covering of the casing included in a shoe-heel constructed in accordance with my invention, having been removed to more clearly show the construction thereof.

Fig. 4, a fragmentary section through the rim of the casing included in the improved heel construction,

Fig. 5, a sectional view of a modified construction of a heel made in accordance with the present invention, and

Fig. 6, a bottom view of the shoe showing another modification in the construction of the heel thereof.

Referring to the drawings by numerical reference characters, 2 designates the heel of a shoe 3, which as shown in Figs. 1, 2 and 3 is composed of a casing 4 which in con tour resembles an ordinary shoe heel and which has an inturned flange 5 for its connection with the shoe.

rlhe casing is preferably made of metal bent and formed into a rim 6 which in shape corresponds with the shoe heel, and turned inwardly at right angles along one of the edges of said rim to provide the beforementioned flange 5. l

The upstanding` rim of the casing may be incised at intervals asshown in Fig. 3 to permit of its being bent in conformity with the heel portion of the vshoe to which it is applied, and the casing is secured to the shoe by nails or screws 7 driven through its flange as best shown in Fig. 2.

The rim of the casing is preferably covered with leather, rubber or other suitable material. lf the covering is composed of rubber, the metal parts are first incased in an envelop 8 of a fabric similar to that used in the manufacture of pneumatic tires, to provide an adhesive support for vulcanized rubber.

A layer of rubber 9 is placed upon the fabric as shown in Fig. 4 of the drawings and the casing thus completed closely resembles one of the rubber heels at present in common use.

A socket or cavity adapted to receive the plug or wearing piece of my improved heel may be formed by placing within the casing after it has been fastened to the shoe, a block l0 of wood, rubber, leather or other suitable substance which fits snugly within the rim of the casing and bears against the flange or bottom of the same.

The block has one or more recesses which either independently or in conjunction with the rim of the casing provide sockets adapted to receive correspondingly formed wearing plugs.

ln the construction shown in Fig. 1 the cavity 12 is formed along the portion of the heel which usually wears sooner than the other parts of the same and the plug 13 is composed of a correspondingly shaped piece of rubber which [its snugly in the cavity or socket and may if so desired project slightly outside the same, as shown in Fig. 2.

Both the block and the plug are held in its socket as shown at 14 in Fig. 2, or itmay be replaced by another plug of similar form and construction.

It will be readily understood that the casing instead of being made of suiiicient depth to replace the entire heel of the shoe to which it is applied, may be made shallower to take'the place of the wearing lift or tread portion of the heel of a shoe as illustrated in Fig. 5.

Furthermore the cavity may be formed in an ordinary heel made either of leather or of rubber, by cutting a recess 15 in the outer portion thereof as illustrated in Fig. 1, and closing said recess'at the outside of the heel by a correspondingly formed rim 16 which is flanged as at 17 for its connection with the shoe as in the irst-described form.

It will be understood that the cooperative parts of my improved heel may be made of any suitable material to provide one or more removable or adjustable wearing pieces at any part of the wearingface of the heel, that the block adjustably and removably fitted within the casing, may itself constitute the wearing piece of the heel, and that other variations 1n the construction of a shoe-heel made in accordance with my invention may be availed of without departing from the spirit of the invention as defined in the following claims.

1. A shoe-heel composed of a shell having an inturned flange for fastening it to the sole of a shoe, a filling removably fitted in said shell and having a marginal recess which together with the corresponding portion of the shell, provides a socket, and a plug removably fitted in 'said socket.

2. A shoe having a marginal recess in its heel, a metal plate covering said recess at the side of the heel and having an inturned flange fastened to the heel seat of the shoe, and a plug removably fitted in the socket formed between said recess and said plate.

3. A shoe-heel having a marginal recess, a `metal plate covering said recess at the side of the heel and having an inturned fiange to fasten to the heel-seat of a shoe, and a plug removably fitted in the socket formed between said recess and said plate.

In testimony whereof I have affixed my signature vin presence of two witnesses.

WALTER H. WEBB.

Witnesses:

G. J. ROLLANDET, L. RHoADEs.

Copies of this patent may be obtained for ve cents each, by addressing the Commissioner of I'atents, Washington, D. C. 

